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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26626852">The One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/douxii/pseuds/douxii'>douxii</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>.. kinda, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Introspection, Kinda, Lowercase, M/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), somewhat of a relationship study if you will, their relationship is implied</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:49:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26626852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/douxii/pseuds/douxii</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They stand on opposite sides of the battlefield, but Ferdinand doesn't know why.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ferdinand von Aegir &amp; Hubert von Vestra, Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just a short little angsty blurb i wrote to clear my head :) </p><p>in this, ferdinand joined a different house because i just think things are a lot more interesting that way y'know..</p><p>btw this is inspired by the 1 by taylor swift!! if you listen to it while reading it really hits different</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>war.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>that was a word ferdinand hated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>not just the word, but the prospect itself entirely. the idea of unprecedented violence, and for what? just to say you won something? to say you made a difference? </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>difference? what good can come out of bloodshed and merciless slaughter?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>all questions no one could answer. five years of careful planning, exhausting battle meetings, trifling decisions made, and yet ferdinand still knew nothing of how things ended up the way they did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>something, just </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>made everything hurt a little bit more knowing who was on the other side of that war.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>old classmates, what were supposed to be new colleagues, </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span>. that was the worst part.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>they never got along, sure, and the rivalry was petty, he’ll admit. but he respected them just as much as he did their professor, more than he could say about his own father. he’d known them his whole life, was destined to be by their side, fight by their side. so how did they end up here, on opposite sides of the battlefield?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>what about the fights, the trivial arguments over nothing and everything, what about the love? was it all for naught? did it all mean nothing to them? nothing to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>at face value, hubert and ferdinand were nothing more than counteragents, what with the constant squabbling and disagreements, but there was so much more there than what met the eye.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ferdinand can’t say he misses the fights, but he knows deep down they impacted his development into who he is today. most people think he’s same old, but he’s changed so much. for the better, some might say. ferdinand can’t help but agree.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but for some damned reason, he still wishes he was back there, down by pond, hubert at his side, rebutting something he’d said. he misses the way the sunlight contrasted hubert’s skin the way it had reflected his own when they had tea on those peaceful sunday afternoons. misses the way hubert would look at him when he didn’t know what to say before realizing he didn’t need to say anything, because ferdinand always understood him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>what had changed?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>there are so many questions ferdinand has, all without answers. but there’s one that really stands out in his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>if ferdinand had everything he wanted, they would still be back there, like the sun had never kept moving. they’d be timeworn all the same, but they’d have gotten there </span>
  <em>
    <span>together</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but you can’t always have everything you want, life would be too boring if we did.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>and so he stands on the opposite side of the battlefield, in the face of the man he once loved, blood on their faces, their own allies lying beside them at the hands of the other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he stands there, lance in hand, ready to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill </span>
  </em>
  <span>the man in front of him, but still thinks about what life would be like had he been the one. what he could have done to change the outcome of where they stand now. he ponders if hubert ever has the same thoughts. he has to, right? they had to have meant something to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>but ferdinand doesn’t have time to entertain the idea. so he charges forth.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i literally wrote this in 30 minutes on a whim just to feel something so pls be kind &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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